Celgene Inks Licensing Deal with AADi - Analyst Blog

Celgene Corporation CELG inked a deal to out license its pipeline candidate ABI-009 to AADi, LLC. ABI-009 is being developed on the basis of the nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) technology which became accessible to Celgene following its acquisition of Abraxis BioScience in 2010.

The acquisition of Abraxis added the highly successful oncology drug Abraxane (also developed using the same technology platform as ABI-009) to Celgene's portfolio. Celgene out-licensed ABI-009 to a company, founded by Dr. Neil Desai, who was instrumental in inventing Abraxane and the nab technology platform.

According to the deal, AADi will initially develop ABI-009 for treating patients with oncology and cardiovascular indications. The candidate performed well in a phase I study in patients with advanced non-hematologic malignancies. The deal provides Celgene the option to reacquire the candidate.

AADi is evaluating the candidate in a phase I/II study for treating patients suffering from non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The company has started enrolling patients in the multi-center trial, which is being funded partially by the National Institutes of Health.

Abraxane is one of the most successful drugs at Celgene and is approved for various cancer forms like metastatic breast cancer, lung cancer and advanced pancreatic cancer. The approval for the advanced pancreatic cancer indication in combination with Eli Lilly's LLY Gemzar was gained in the U.S. and EU in Sep 2013 and Jan 2014, respectively. Abraxane recorded net sales of $184.8 million in the first quarter of 2014, up 50.6% year over year.

We remind investors that Celgene had inked a deal with NantWorks LLC earlier in the year. As a part of the deal, Celgene agreed to out-license two of its early-stage pipeline candidates- NTB-011 and NTB-010 - to NantWorks. The oncology candidates are also being developed using the nab technology platform. It remains to be seen whether any of the out-licensed candidates can replicate the success of Abraxane in the event of the candidate gaining approval. NantWorks was founded by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong who like Desai was behind the invention of Abraxane and the nab technology platform.

Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company, carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the biopharma space include Gilead Sciences GILD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN. While Gilead carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Alexion holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).